Bigfoot (old vs new)

HMS Beagle wrote:
On weights, my 1988 5th wheel and 1996 camper were both well over the placard weight. The 2008 camper is over but not by as much. You can account for some of the difference in optional equipment, but I think they have gotten more honest with time, though still not honest.

If you order a new one instruct them not to put ANY holes in the roof. They build a pretty nice waterproof shell and then punch holes in it like a sieve. Some are required by regulation but many are not. I did that on the 1996 (which I ordered from the factory) and it had maybe 1/2 or 1/3 of the holes in the roof compared to the 2008 which I did not order. They could build it with none if they tried a little harder.

Adamis summarizes many of the areas of concern. I had the same issue with the propane compartment and did just what Tx did - repaired the lip across the bottom. Again I think that is regulation, propane is supposed to drain, but honestly the amount of propane trapped by that lip wouldn't even wake you if it went off. I've found the pourable sealant they use to be horrid, it just cracks away in short order. Fortunately the newer ones are sealed with butyl under the flanges, unfortunately they didn't do the best job sometimes. The only thing I haven't removed and resealed properly on the latest one is the bath vent.

Like Adamis, I still consider Bigfoot to be at the pinnacle of quality in a production RV - but the valleys in that industry as so very low, the pinnacles don't have to be high to stand out.

I think you are right that the propane compartment lip (or lack of) is a safety requirement. You could always add a cheap battery powered LP detector if you were really nervous. Like you said though, I doubt that small of a quantity would pose a significant threat.

How tough is it to leak test these campers? I keep seeing products that pressurize the interior and then you put soapy water on the outside. Not sure how reliable this technique is, but it seems like finding and repairing leaks beats tracing leaks after you have found the water/rot. I have to admit, if I paid upwards of $40k for a new one, I'd be pretty annoyed about having to redo shoddy seal work.

I am curious about the finish of the cutouts. You'd think they'd glass the cross section and use threaded inserts for the fasteners. I am just thinking about what I do for the mounting holes of my skis to prevent water from getting into the core. I either glue in the screws if it is meant to be permanent, or, use threaded inserts that are glued in if non permanent. Sounds to me like all the through-hull attachments/ flanges are just screwed into the hull (hopefully into wood frame too for reinforcement). It'd sure be a pain to upgrade everything, but better to do it all at once than piecemeal as it fails IMO.